Real Love Is Nothing Like What You’ve Imagined (Because It’s Better)

From when we were young, the idea of love had just been waltzing in the air around us. It’s in the movies. It’s in the words the adults speak. It’s in the way people touch, and look at each other. It’s in every lesson that they teach. It’s in every romanticized story that tells of a boy who loved a girl, and of a couple that lived happily ever after. But they didn’t tell us about the hard parts. They didn’t tell us that love is hard. Well, it should be hard, because otherwise, it’s just not worth it anymore.

You see, love does not always arrive with a smiling face and open arms saying, “I’ve been waiting for you.” Sometimes love does not arrive the moment you want it to because often times, it takes a while. Frequently, love is smart enough to know when you’re ready and when you’re not. There are also instances when love arrives with a frown upon its face because it’s not all the time that it will be easy to catch. There are times when love will make you work hard for it. It will show you pain even before you get to feel its delicate touch. It will not always be easy because love will not be merely a bed of roses. Love will be hard so that you’ll know how not to take it for granted.

Love is not only a boy who loves a girl; it’s also a girl who loves a girl and a boy who loves a boy. Love is not always about a couple that lived happily ever after, because sometimes, love arrives and does not remain at both hearts. Love is not always two hands holding you tight through the night. Sometimes, love is unreturned calls, unanswered messages, and a hand that lets you go every now and then. Love could also mean crying as you’re sprawled on your bathroom floor at 4am, wondering why you weren’t good enough. Love, at times, means writing about a shared past – a story that has now ended but will always be your favourite chapter in life.

Sometimes, love is about a person overflowing with feelings and passion, but with no one to give them to. There are even times when love means watching the person you love give his/her heart out to someone else, and accepting that because behind all of these, love also means sacrificing your own happiness for somebody else’s.

Love equals bravery, because there is nothing in being vulnerable and letting your guards down that does not speak courage. There is bravery even in letting someone go and watching them love someone who is not you. Love might be seen as merely a four-letter word, but it is love that teaches us how to feel for others. It teaches us to look outwards instead of inwards. However, love does not mean that you will never be sad for the rest of your days. Love only means that you are strong enough to live through all of the hardships, pain, and sadness. And most importantly, love is not purely made of happiness, because with love comes all sorts of feelings and emotions, and it is upon you to make the choice of whether to fight and keep it, or simply let it go.